->'''Roy Greenhilt:''' The rogue is ambitious and greedy, the ranger is a complete psychopath, the wizard is trigger-happy and never stops talking, and the bard is as dumb as a box of moldy carrots!\\'''Durkon Thundershield:''' As I recall, ye called me "surly and unpleasant" shortly after ye met me. [...] Maybe all these folks need is a good strong leader like ye ta whip 'em inta shape.-->-- ''The Order of the Stick 0: On the Origin of [=PCs=]''

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''[[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots.html The Order of the Stick]]'' is a [[StickFigureComic Stick Figure Webcomic]] by Rich Burlew set in a world based on ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' [[RPGMechanicsVerse 3.5 Edition rules]] (an original world, rather than an established setting) centering around the adventures of the eponymous party. The comic is well-loved for its complicated plot (with storylines planned years in advance by Burlew), its well-executed MoodWhiplash moments, and its own brand of humor, often relying on sarcastic pop culture references.

The comic started off as a gag-a-day strip, often mocking ''D&D'' rules, but things quickly took [[CerebusSyndrome a turn for the dramatic]]: their journey to defeat the evil Xykon entangled them in the lich's plot to harness the power of The Snarl, a [[EldritchAbomination sinister reality-eating]]... [[NegativeSpaceWedgie thing formed at the dawn of creation]] from literal [[ContinuitySnarl tangles in the fabric of reality]]. Along the way, they butted heads with [[{{Mooks}} hordes of monsters]], plot complications, [[KnightTemplar an overzealous paladin]] or two, and the Linear Guild, a group of {{Evil Counterpart}}s led by Elan's EvilTwin brother, [[SdrawkcabName Nale]].

Of course, even with all that going on, it's still covered with plenty of humor. Also notable is the fact that ''all'' of the main characters and quite a few of the minor characters are extremely GenreSavvy, not just about the ''D&D'' rules and gameplay mechanics [[RPGMechanicsVerse by which their world operates]], but [[MediumAwareness general storytelling tropes]] as well. This tends to lead to a ''lot'' of LampshadeHanging (including, at one point, [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0546.html lampshading the act of lampshading]] -- [[VisualPun with a literal lampshade]]).

''The Order of the Stick'' was one of the original reasons for the "[[http://www.giantitp.com Giant in the Playground]]" gaming site, which also hosted the first volume of ''Webcomic/{{Erfworld}}''. The [=GitP=] forums are almost an unofficial troper forum, thanks in part to the webcomic's [[TroperCriticalMass distinct appeal to tropers]].

The webcomic pages have also been sold in hardcopy in the following books:

The physical volumes of the main comic also contain extra sideplots and gag-strips as incentives for readers to buy them. As is typical of the comic, these books are [[NoFourthWall referenced in the story]], usually when a character wonders if a particular sideplot will be expanded there.

There are also several print-only books that are tied into the comic:

* ''On the Origin of [=PCs=]'' (a prequel to ''Dungeon Crawlin' Fools'' which focuses on how Roy and Durkon founded the Order of the Stick)* ''Start of Darkness'' (a prequel focusing on Xykon and Redcloak)* ''Snips, Snails and Dragon Tales'' (a collection of strips published in ''Magazine/{{Dragon}}'' magazine and about eighty pages of other humorous fluff).* ''The Order of the Stick Coloring Book'' (a Kickstarter-exclusive featuring Elan and Thog in a monochrome lineart adventure waiting to be coloured in)* The Kickstarter rewards also include a number of exclusive digital comics, mostly focused on minor characters or reimagined settings, which may be collated into a book at some point in the future.

The print-only books are not necessary for following the main plot of the comic. In fact, it's usually lampshaded whenever material from a print-only book is recapped (sometimes with a character [[ProductPlacement checking an actual copy of the book]] just to make sure they got everything).